Nightly Nuance - March 8, 2021

Hello, my friends. Thank you so much for your feedback on last week's series and on my question about whether you prefer the series format or standalone episodes. Based on your comments, I'm going to mix it up - with series when it makes sense for the topic and standalone episodes other weeks. This week, we'll take it one topic at a time, beginning with consideration of statehood for Puerto Rico. 

I'm trying to do a quick overview of the entire history of a place I've never been and its people who speak a language that I don't. All to say: I'm trying to honor Puerto Rico and its people, and I am certainly going to miss important aspects. I welcome your input and feedback as always. 

If you are interested in learning more about Puerto Rico's history, History.com has a helpful abbreviated timeline. Magaly Rivera's site has a very extensive and helpful timeline. You can read Puerto Rico's constitution on Rivera's site or on Ballotpedia by section. 

As I mention, Puerto Rico's citizens pay payroll taxes which fund federal programs to which they have unequal access. That issue will be in front of the Supreme Court soon. 

I end by talking about Puerto Rico's governor's efforts toward statehood, as well as progressive Democrats' efforts to create a more deliberative, expansive process for Puerto Ricans to assess their next steps. You can read and listen to more about that from: 

Miami Herald  

NBC News  

Politico 

Axios  

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